Boards vote to rename clinical entities of Georgia Regents Unive - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

The Boards of Directors of Georgia Health Sciences Health System and Georgia Health Sciences Medical Center voted today to change the names of the clinical entities associated with Georgia Regents University.

"As we continue creating the next great American university, it is essential that we demonstrate a single, unified brand identity that reflects the scope and impact of our mission," said Dr. Ricardo Azziz, President of Georgia Regents University and CEO of the Health System. "Georgia Regents University is an education, research and innovation hub that fosters a world-class health care delivery system. Today, that clinical enterprise became Georgia Regents Health System; our adult hospital became Georgia Regents Medical Center and our Children's Medical Center is now Children's Hospital of Georgia. These are truly exciting times for GRU."

The 478-bed Georgia Regents Medical Center, which houses Georgia's first Level I Trauma Center, treated nearly 16,000 inpatients and 357,000 outpatients last year. In addition, there were more than 83,000 emergency room visits, and the hospital provided about $35 million in indigent care.

"We've taken another giant leap into our future," said David Hefner, CEO of the Medical Center and Medical Associates and EVP for Clinical Affairs for the Health System. "As ‘Georgia Regents Medical Center,' we will continue to recruit and retain the nation's top physician scientists in order to discover and deliver innovative, expert treatment, while maintaining an environment focused on compassionate, Patient- and Family-Centered Care."

Founded as the first children's hospital in the South, the 154-bed Children's Hospital of Georgia is the second largest in the state. The hospital cares for the most vulnerable newborns in its Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the most acutely ill kids in its Level I Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

"The name ‘Children's Hospital of Georgia' more closely reflects the vision not only for GRU, but for the children's hospital itself," said Dr. Bernard L. Maria, Medical Director of Children's Hospital of Georgia and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at GRU's Medical College of Georgia. "We serve children and families from every county in Georgia and beyond. We have pediatric care partnerships in the four corners of the state – Albany, Savannah, Rome and Athens. We are a proven leader, earning top national rankings in quality and safety when compared to our peers. We believe ‘Children's Hospital of Georgia' is the right name. It certainly fits," Maria said.

The boards also approved renaming all other clinical operations to include Georgia Regents. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of Georgia Health Sciences Medical Associates, the physicians practice group, voted to change its name to Georgia Regents Medical Associates earlier this month.

New logos for these organizations will be released at a later date.

The legal names of the organizations remain unchanged.